{"id":239,"date":"2024-07-19T15:47:35","date_gmt":"2024-07-19T12:47:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239"},"modified":"2026-01-22T13:48:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T10:48:42","slug":"flybal-the-flying-timber","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239","title":{"rendered":"FlyBal: the flying timber"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"239\" class=\"elementor elementor-239\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-16e150c e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"16e150c\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2908ed8 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"2908ed8\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e5cbb7f elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"e5cbb7f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.23.0 - 15-07-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/B4A0890-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-246\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/B4A0890-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/B4A0890-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/B4A0890-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/B4A0890-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/B4A0890-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">Foto:Evangelos Daskalakis<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8283da7 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"8283da7\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ecc9cf8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ecc9cf8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.23.0 - 15-07-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p><b>FlyBal- The Flying timber: A global political ethnography of balsa extractivism in the Ecuadorean Amazonia.<\/b><\/p><p>Welcome to FlyBal\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/101067490\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">(MSCA Individual Fellowship\/Grant Agreement 101067490<\/a>), Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam<\/p><p><span style=\"color: #666666;\"><span style=\"font-family: Nexus Sans Pro, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Balsa (ochroma pyramidale), is a type of timber that is mostly produced in Ecuadorian Amazonia. In fact, Ecuador is the world\u2019s largest balsa producer and it has been so for decades. Balsa is not the world\u2019s lightest timber, yet it is the most resistant among the light, and it is used in aero-modelism. Planes\u2019 wings usually have a skeleton made of balsa. Yet, that\u2019s not the only enterprise in which it is used, nor is aero-modelling what inspired this research project.<\/span><\/span><\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #666666;\"><span style=\"font-family: Nexus Sans Pro, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Apparently the demand for balsa has skyrocketed over the past few years, and illegal balsa trade is -indirectly &#8211; responsible for some of the Amazon\u2019s illegal deforestation.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"color: #666666;\"><span style=\"font-family: Nexus Sans Pro, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">The \u2013 unlikely \u2013 reason is green energy: balsa is the core material used in the construction of wind turbin-blades, and since wind-farms have multiplied impressively all over the globe in the quest for green energy solutions, so has the demand for balsa, which is -ironically \u2013 bringing about deforestation in the Amazonia. In fact the deforestation is indirect: balsa itself is not an endangered type of timber right now, but since logging in the Amazonia is generally non regulated, other types of trees are also being logged together with balsa in an uncontrolled manner.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"color: #666666;\"><span style=\"font-family: Nexus Sans Pro, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Of course, extractivism is not a new phenomenon in the Ecuadorian Amazonia. Ever since the Conquest, the region has been the source of imaginary or non-imaginary precious resources for western capitalist exploitation: from the utopian gold of El Dorado, to the rubber boom, the oil boom, and later the timber, soya, and agribusiness boom. Empires and, later, nation-states and multinationals have always been competing for access to those precious resources. As they gradually become extinct the extractive frontier has been moving closer and closer to the \u201crefuge regions\u201d of the Amazonia\u2019s indigenous populations, which become the theatre of competition over land and resources. Today it is the turn of balsa to become the \u201cbrown gold\u201d of Amazonia\u2019s eternal El Dorado in order to produce the West\u2019s green energy. At the same time, local communities all over the globe also increasingly oppose the installation of wind-farms, the \u201cfinal product\u201d of the global balsa supply chain. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"color: #666666;\"><span style=\"font-family: Nexus Sans Pro, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Drawing from already existing literature on the windmills\u2019 installation, I intend to move \u2018backwards\u2019 to see the process of extraction, combine findings with previous research on windfarms and thus overall provide a more thorough and complete understanding of the issue, contributing to the literature on green energy, its contradictions, and its lived experience; adding to the genealogy of extractivism, in the Amazonia exploring how this case study adds\/ challenges\/ contradicts\/ furthers what we already know.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p><p>This is FlyBal&#8217;s project page. It will be regularly updated with news on the project&#8217;s progress.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><u>Project&#8217;s Blog Posts<\/u><\/strong><\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?p=376\">FyBal Blog#1 Bad Luck<\/a><\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?p=405\">FlyBal Blog#2 A weird type of wood<\/a><\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?p=435\">FlybalBlog#3 I will fly away like balsa&#8217;s cotton<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2f5f005 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"2f5f005\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"228\" src=\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/EN_FundedbytheEU_RGB_Monochrome-1024x228.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-241\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/EN_FundedbytheEU_RGB_Monochrome-1024x228.png 1024w, https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/EN_FundedbytheEU_RGB_Monochrome-300x67.png 300w, https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/EN_FundedbytheEU_RGB_Monochrome-768x171.png 768w, https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/EN_FundedbytheEU_RGB_Monochrome-1536x343.png 1536w, https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/EN_FundedbytheEU_RGB_Monochrome-2048x457.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5fe2e90 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5fe2e90\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-49fb603 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"49fb603\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>This project has received funding from the European Union\u2019s Horizon 2021 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 101067490.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"nofuss_excerpt\"><p>Foto:Evangelos Daskalakis FlyBal- The Flying<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-239","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>FlyBal: the flying timber - Leonidas Oikonomakis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FlyBal: the flying timber - Leonidas Oikonomakis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Foto:Evangelos Daskalakis FlyBal- The Flying\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Leonidas Oikonomakis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-22T10:48:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/B4A0890-1024x683.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239\",\"name\":\"FlyBal: the flying timber - Leonidas Oikonomakis\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/B4A0890-1024x683.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-19T12:47:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-22T10:48:42+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/B4A0890-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/B4A0890-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Foto: Evangelos Daskalakis\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"FlyBal: the flying timber\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/\",\"name\":\"Leonidas Oikonomakis\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"FlyBal: the flying timber - Leonidas Oikonomakis","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"FlyBal: the flying timber - Leonidas Oikonomakis","og_description":"Foto:Evangelos Daskalakis FlyBal- The Flying","og_url":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239","og_site_name":"Leonidas Oikonomakis","article_modified_time":"2026-01-22T10:48:42+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/B4A0890-1024x683.jpg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239","url":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239","name":"FlyBal: the flying timber - Leonidas Oikonomakis","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/B4A0890-1024x683.jpg","datePublished":"2024-07-19T12:47:35+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-22T10:48:42+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/B4A0890-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/B4A0890-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Foto: Evangelos Daskalakis"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?page_id=239#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"FlyBal: the flying timber"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/","name":"Leonidas Oikonomakis","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=239"}],"version-history":[{"count":47,"href":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":675,"href":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/239\/revisions\/675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rumbosdeleonidas.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}